HRA Pharma neemt innovatieve immuuntherapie voor de behandeling van eierstokkanker over van Pantarhei Bioscience
ArrayParijs, Frankrijk en Zeist, Nederland, HRA Pharma en Pantarhei Bioscience maken vandaag bekend dat HRA Pharma de exclusieve wereldwijde rechten heeft gekocht om een nieuwe innovatieve immuuntherapie voor de behandeling van eierstokkanker te ontwikkelen en te commercialiseren. De therapie is gebaseerd op immunisatie tegen het zona pellucida-3 eiwit, een nieuw aangrijpingspunt voor de behandeling van bepaalde typen eierstokkanker.
Onder het contract zijn Pantarhei Bioscience en HRA Pharma tevens een samenwerking overeengekomen voor de verdere ontwikkeling van deze nieuwe kanker behandeling.
Beide bedrijven brengen complementaire expertise in: Pantarhei Bioscience haar wetenschappelijke expertise bij de opzet en uitvoering van preklinische en klinische geneesmiddelontwikkelingprogramma’s op het gebied van de gezondheid van de vrouw en van hormoon gerelateerde therapie van kanker. HRA Pharma brengt haar track-record in op het gebied van geneesmiddelontwikkeling en marketing voor de gezondheid van de vrouw en oncologie. Het te ontwikkelen product bevindt zich momenteel in de eindfase van de preklinische ontwikkeling en zal volgens de huidige planning in 2016 in klinische studies getest gaan worden.
HRA Pharma Acquires a Novel Ovarian Cancer Immunotherapy from Pantarhei Bioscience
Paris, FRANCE and Zeist, NETHERLANDS October 27, 2014 – HRA Pharma and Pantarhei Bioscience announced today that HRA Pharma has acquired exclusive global rights to develop and commercialize a novel ovarian cancer immunotherapy. Based on immunization against zona pellucida protein ZP3, the new therapeutic approach targets the prevention and treatment of certain types of ovarian cancer.
Under the terms of the agreement, Pantarhei Bioscience and HRA Pharma join forces to accelerate the development program of this new immune-based cancer treatment. Both companies bring complementary competencies and intellectual assets into the project: Pantarhei Bioscience with its scientific expertise in conducting preclinical and early clinical drug development programs in women’s health and endocrine treatment of cancer, and HRA Pharma with its track record of drug development and marketing in the fields of women’s health and oncology. Currently in preclinical development, the product is scheduled to move into clinical studies by 2016.
“This collaboration with Pantarhei Bioscience builds on HRA Pharma’s longstanding commitment to develop medicines that have the potential to provide meaningful benefit to women’s health,” said Erin Gainer, CEO of HRA Pharma. “This is the first product that would be directed against zona pellucida antigens in the ovaries and has the potential to provide a targeted non-surgical ovarian cancer treatment.”
“We are very excited to work with HRA Pharma to make new and creative treatments for gender-related cancers available,” said Herjan Coelingh Bennink, CEO of Pantarhei Bioscience. “We believe that the combination of Pantarhei Bioscience’s innovative approach and technologies, with HRA Pharma’s know-how and expertise in women’s health, has the potential to rapidly advance this new and innovative treatment and bring it to the clinic.”
This novel treatment strategy for ovarian cancer was introduced to HRA by Kempen & Co, Merchant Bank and subsequently in-licensed through HRA Pharma’s Strategic Product Opportunity Team in charge of expanding the pipeline through new product acquisitions. HRA Pharma continues to actively evaluate and pursue new in-licensing opportunities in areas of women’s health and endocrinology.
About ovarian cancer
Ovarian cancer has the lowest survival rate of all female cancers. Ovarian cancer is diagnosed annually in nearly a quarter of a million women globally, and is responsible for 140,000 deaths each year. Statistics show that just 45% of women with ovarian cancer are likely to survive for five years compared to up to 89% of women with breast cancer. Developing and developed nations are similarly affected by this disease. Symptoms are often misdiagnosed, as they can be confused with symptoms of other less severe illnesses, particularly gastrointestinal complaints. The largest group of ovarian tumors, about 80%, is epithelium-derived, and the less common one include those of germ cell and sex cord/stromal cell origin. The majority of patients are only identified in the advanced stages when the disease becomes more difficult to treat.
About HRA Pharma
HRA Pharma is a privately-held European pharmaceutical company that designs products, devices and supporting services in niche areas of health and makes them available to doctors and patients worldwide. The company targets therapeutic gaps in the areas of reproductive health and endocrinology, and uses innovative marketing solutions and socially-conscious programs to promote healthy management of drugs and diseases. Headquartered in Paris, France and with subsidiaries across Western Europe, HRA Pharma has built a strong network of R&D, manufacturing, distribution and NGO partners which enables it to satisfy critical patient needs and improve patient health in over 50 countries across the globe. Visit www.hra-pharma.com for more information.
About Pantarhei Bioscience
Pantarhei Bioscience B.V. is a specialty pharmaceutical company focusing on the development of innovative, proprietary treatments in the fields of Women’s Health and the Endocrine Treatment of Cancer. Within these disease areas, Pantarhei has generated product opportunities based on its ability to identify (novel) medical uses for endogenous human biologicals and/or (combinations of) existing drugs. The Company’s lead product is Estetrol (E4) a natural human estrogen for e.g. oral contraception, HRT, breast- & prostate cancer, prevention and treatment of osteoporosis and (menstrual) migraine. Other priority projects are the ZP3 project for ovarian cancer and the ARC project addressing mood and sexual problems associated with androgen loss during oral contraception. Visit www.pantarheibio.com for more information.
